Why billable hours matter more than your hourly rate
When freelancers want to earn more, the first idea is usually to raise the hourly rate. It is often right, but it is not the only lever, and sometimes it is not the biggest one.
Three ways to earn more
RateFlow looks at three opportunities and ranks them by the extra income they could add each year:
- Raise your rate. Shown when your current rate is more than 5% below your calculated minimum.
- Reduce unbilled time. Shown when you bill under 65% of your working hours. Moving up toward that level means more billable hours in the same week.
- Add a retainer. Project-only income makes cash flow unpredictable, so a monthly retainer steadies it.
Why unbilled time is easy to miss
If you work 40 hours a week and bill 55% of them, you invoice 22 hours. Lifting that to 65% adds about four billable hours every week, with no price increase at all. Over a 46-week year that is roughly 180 more billable hours.
A warning from the other side
Billing too much is a problem too. RateFlow flags utilisation above 75%, or more than 30 billable hours a week, as rarely sustainable, because it leaves no room for the admin and selling that keep work coming in. It also flags utilisation under 40% as low.
Try it in the free RateFlow calculator. If you have not yet worked out your floor, start with how to work out your minimum freelance rate.